A Fun Ride
Summary
Guns Up has some entertaining action scenes and I love seeing Kevin James in roles like this and Becky showing that there’s more to him than slapstick comedy.
Plot: Ray Hayes, an ex-cop and a family man, leads a dangerous double life as a mob henchman. On the brink of leaving the Family, his final job goes off the rails. With the clock ticking, Ray has one night to get his unsuspecting family out of the city. Ray Hayes, an ex-cop and a family man, leads a dangerous double life as a mob henchman. On the brink of leaving the Family, his final job goes off the rails. With the clock ticking, Ray has one night to get his unsuspecting family out of the city.
Review: I’m enjoying seeing the more serious side of Kevin James who is normally associated with comedy movies. Guns Up still has some laughs, but it’s mostly serious with James playing a former cop turned mob enforcer as he tries to finance a family diner with his wife (Christina Ricci).
As with many modern action movies there are of course references to John Wick and Guns Up even has some of the Wick style even if it doesn’t quite have the budget. James is well cast as Ray Hayes and his banter with his wife Alice provides a lot of the film’s laughs. Ricci is a revelation here and is the true star of the show. Timothy V. Murphy is suitably crazed as the villain Lonny Castigan who kills Ray’s employer and tries to take over the streets.
Guns Up is well paced with some decent shoot-outs and a few fight scenes making it an entertaining straight to VOD picture. There isn’t anything that really makes it stand out in the overstuffed mobster wants out genre but the cast shines and it makes for an easy watch.
Overall, Guns up may not win any wards for originality, but it has some funny lines with Kevin James and Christina Ricci clearly enjoying themselves and there’s enough action to make this an entertaining ride.